The Legacy of Saint Brendan: A History of the Western Hemisphere, 512 to 1400
- Thread starter Rognvald
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- americas dark ages exploration
Very interesting update! The monks don't seem to have weapons and generally did not carry weapons around this time, so interested to see if the plague makes the natives and Irish monks have to fight over resources. Also curious to see which of those petty kings is going to claim the colony as his own, and wondering if we see a more unified Ireland earlier under the leadership of a petty king who can use the resources of this colony. The most interesting butterfly to me here is that there is less of a technological gap between the monks and the natives than later on in OTL. Curious to see how that butterfly flaps.
You guessed it! In my mind, the monastary is located near OTL St. John’s.
Loved the new update; your writing style is engaging, informative, and seems to have a trace of dry witCan't wait to see what comes next.
Thank you sir! I am flattered.
Naw, it’s not Justinian’s plague.
Interesting ideas!
Indeed, beyond some knives and a bow for hunting, the monks currently have little in the terms of weaponry.
And you’re thinking in interesting paths.
I’m writing on my phone right now, so sometimes my thoughts outpace my fingers and stuff doesn’t get fully explained. The “some monks stayed in Ireland” was also meant to refer to deaths, but it doesn’t seem to have translated from my mind to the page. Good catch!
Not just amazingness; this is one of the more unique ideas for a TL I've seen...
I mostly have some general ideas, which I think will coalesce as I deal with the Eastern Hemisphere more in the coming updates. But nothing super concrete as of yet.
I go back and forth on this one. If a butterfly in Newfoundland started flapping its wings in 512, would the breeze reach Mecca by 570? There are arguments both ways, in my mind at least. Right now I am leaning towards a no birth, but I have yet to make my mind up fully.
If I sound wishy-washy on these types of questions, my focus on the Western Hemisphere, and two islands in particular, kind of makes me myopic sometimes
I think preserving Islam but having it be radically different from OTL could be a very interesting take. For example, in the Map Thread, in a post about the "Sultanate of al-Yaman" by @HowAboutThisForAName, the Hegira is different, Islam has "a more pluralistic and mercantile bent", the Caliphates are butterflied and Islam is seen more like Buddhism, "esoteric, pacifist and popular among spiritualist hipsters".
Another take that I personally would find very interesting is having Islam being an ethnic arab religion...
Of course you have the last word, this is just what I think would be cool
Oh wow, is this a cool TL or what?
Random thoughts on things:
—The plague is gonna mess things up and mess things up bigly. There’s a spectrum of options from most of the monks dying and the natives running away (are they Beothuk?) to most of the natives dying and Brendan developing a massive guilt complex over it
—For Islam, it will definitely not be exactly the same as IOTL, but do keep in mind that much of its core was logical development from Arabian culture at the time, so you can’t create a radically different religion and call it Islam. Things can easily be radically different, though—a huge potential PoD is the Ethiopians succeeding in conquering Mecca in the Year of the Elephant
—For Arianism, you’d need something to change in the ERE for it to not just fade away as it did IOTL. This is the era of East Roman dominance over Christianity—the Roman successor states in the West gradually converted away from Arianism due to East Rome’s massive economic, political, and military strength.
Random thoughts on things:
—The plague is gonna mess things up and mess things up bigly. There’s a spectrum of options from most of the monks dying and the natives running away (are they Beothuk?) to most of the natives dying and Brendan developing a massive guilt complex over it
—For Islam, it will definitely not be exactly the same as IOTL, but do keep in mind that much of its core was logical development from Arabian culture at the time, so you can’t create a radically different religion and call it Islam. Things can easily be radically different, though—a huge potential PoD is the Ethiopians succeeding in conquering Mecca in the Year of the Elephant
—For Arianism, you’d need something to change in the ERE for it to not just fade away as it did IOTL. This is the era of East Roman dominance over Christianity—the Roman successor states in the West gradually converted away from Arianism due to East Rome’s massive economic, political, and military strength.
I think preserving Islam but having it be radically different from OTL could be a very interesting take. For example, in the Map Thread, in a post about the "Sultanate of al-Yaman" by @HowAboutThisForAName, the Hegira is different, Islam has "a more pluralistic and mercantile bent", the Caliphates are butterflied and Islam is seen more like Buddhism, "esoteric, pacifist and popular among spiritualist hipsters".
Another take that I personally would find very interesting is having Islam being an ethnic arab religion...
Of course you have the last word, this is just what I think would be cool
Some interesting ideas indeed!
The monks definitely won’t mean for anything to happen.
Érinn go Brách!Brilliant! I would be very interested in how Celtic Christianity develops ITTL, and as a Hibernophile, hoping for Éirinn go Brách!
I’m thinking of doing some narrative stuff in the future, more in the sense of a “slice of life” kind of thing. Show what daily life is like in this ATL. Some big events also might be discussed narrativly.Thanks! And also some very interesting thoughts, thank you for sharing!
The natives are like proto-Beothuk. They’re part of the “Dorset Culture” sphere that dominated Eastern and Northern Canada at this point in time.
Someone remembers the original!This is a really cool idea and I'm liking that you're keeping it plausible. No Muhammad also makes things interesting in terms of the wider world.
I'll miss High in Erin Sang The Sword, but this is really cool too
Thank you! Maybe one day High in Erin will get a reboot, who knows?
Also, another thought. The Fifth Ecumenical Council is going to be kicking off pretty soon, which will have big effects. OTL, the 5th EC really only just said "Origen and Nestorius are wrong," and the Miaphysites went "haha, no, screw off, we aren't rejoining your Church," but ITTL you could have a lot of random things happen, especially if the ERE gets... curious about this new land to the west.
EDIT: You could also have Miaphysite Germanic tribes
EDIT: You could also have Miaphysite Germanic tribes